


If I Die Young

by LuthienLuinwe



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Batman, Explosions, Protective Dick Grayson, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 03:46:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14204358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuthienLuinwe/pseuds/LuthienLuinwe
Summary: Beep. Beep. Beep.Twenty minutes.“Grayson?” Damian glanced over at him, and Dick could have sworn he heard fear in that voice, the voice that had always sounded so much older than the boy it belonged to. “Are we going to die?”Dick shook his head, and pulled the boy into a tight hug.Damian hadn’t even flinched away.“Of course not,” he responded, trying to keep his voice calm, even. “Everything’s going to be fine.”





	If I Die Young

They weren’t going to make it.

It was a stupid trap, one Dick should have seen coming, one Bruce would have seen coming.

And he had led himself and Damian right into it.

He had to hand it to the Joker. He had flare.

Because it couldn’t have just been an abandoned warehouse. Oh no, it was an abandoned warehouse that had been turned into an amusement park of horrors that had resulted in, by his count, the death of no less than twenty children, each in more horrific ways than the last.

And Dick hadn’t been able to do a damned thing to stop him.

They had barged in, a mistake Bruce never would have made. He would have surveyed the area, made a plan, calculated. And Dick hadn’t done that. And he found himself face to face with a ticking bomb and no way out.

There were no vents. 

The door was reinforced, and despite their best efforts, they hadn’t been able to break it down.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

And Dick couldn’t help but laugh, however inappropriately, when he thought about who the trap was meant for. Because the Joker killing Bruce the same way he killed Jason? Wouldn’t that just be hysterical?

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Thirty minutes. 

Thirty minutes to find a way out, to get the hell out and get home and pretend it was just a bad dream.

Thirty minutes to tell Damian one last time that he was so much more than a weapon, that he was a wonderful human being who had so much to offer the world, who had a bigger heart than he realized…

Thirty minutes until he could be with his parents again…

No. 

He couldn’t think like that.

He needed to find a way out.

He wouldn’t let Damian die. Not like this.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Twenty minutes.

“Grayson?” Damian glanced over at him, and Dick could have sworn he heard fear in that voice, the voice that had always sounded so much older than the boy it belonged to. “Are we going to die?”

Dick shook his head, and pulled the boy into a tight hug.

Damian hadn’t even flinched away.

“Of course not,” he responded, trying to keep his voice calm, even. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

He couldn’t disable the bomb. 

Joker had made that very clear.

Try to disable the bomb and the preschool down the street would go boom.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Ten minutes.

He wrapped his cape around Damian, hoping beyond hope that that, and himself, would be enough to save the boy from the brunt of the explosion, that it could save him… He wanted to wrap him up, to keep him safe forever.

Bruce would have known what to do.

Hell, Bruce would have kept them out of there to begin with.

But Bruce wasn’t there.

Dick was. 

And Dick had no clue what to do.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Five minutes.

Damian was trying to keep it together, and Dick wanted to tell him that it was okay, to not be scared. But he would be lying. Because it wasn’t going to be okay. And he couldn’t tell Damian not to be scared because he was terrified himself.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Two minutes.

“Close your eyes, Dami,” he said softly. He had a death grip on him, shielding him as best as he could, his back to the ticking bomb. “Don’t open them until it’s over.”

“Grayson, I will not allow you to die on me,” Damian had tried to pull away, but Dick held him even more tightly. “You can’t die on me,” his voice broke, breaking Dick’s heart along with it. “You can’t leave me too.”

“Shh,” Dick shut his eyes tightly and tucked Damian’s head under his chin. “I’m not going anywhere.”

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

One minute.

“Grayson?” Damian asked, but didn’t say anything further. He didn’t need to. Dick heard everything left unsaid.

“You too,” he replied softly.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Thirty seconds.

“I’m right here,” Dick rubbed the boy’s back. “I’m not going anywhere. Just keep your eyes closed until it’s over.”

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Five seconds.

He pushed Damian to the ground, covering him as best as he could.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

An explosion.

A flash of blinding pain like he’d never experienced in his life.

He was going to die, that was if he wasn’t already dead.

He was slipping.

He couldn’t stop it.

But he heard a shaky, labored breath. A weak, forced, “Grayson?”

A more desperate, heartbreaking, “Grayson?!”

He shut his eyes tightly, knowing he wouldn’t open them again.

He’d done his job.

He’d protected his Robin.

And he could die happily knowing that Damian was okay.


End file.
